Chapter Eleven
Shelby
Idecided I hated Nina on day one. Maybe I was being a catty bitch and judging her too harshly, but honestly, I was two seconds from smacking her for most of the day. Me. The person who avoided conflict like the plague if I could get away with it. But Nina was very… hands on when she really should have been keeping them to herself.
The first issue was admittedly jealousy, but I tamped down on my instinctive desire to get her away from my fiancé. I had to remind myself that she'd known Dirk since he was a child, and she was at least into her forties. I didn’t know why I thought that would matter since their age difference was about the same between me and Dirk, and neither of us cared about it.
When I came to that realization, I saw the random glancing touches and pandering in a whole new light. Dirk didn't reciprocate, or even seem to notice really, but it grated on my nerves that she practically acted like I didn't exist even when we were in the same room. Heaven only knew what she tried when I wasn't there. Of course, Dirk brushed it off when I brought it up, and I hated that I didn't push the issue, but if he was oblivious to the woman's flirtations, then I'd be an idiot to continue bringing it to his attention. So I dropped it.
What I couldn't drop was her laying her hands on me. Nina didn't like my posture, and despite multiple complaints, she would pop me on my behind or my chest to make me straighten up if I even hinted at dropping the rigid form she insisted should be second nature. She never did it in front of Dirk, and I'd slumped enough in front of him, trying to instigate it, that he'd asked if I needed to see the doctor for back pain or a personal trainer for core strength. That was embarrassing enough that I didn't attempt it again.
I didn't think Carter had caught her either because surely that was off limits, but what did I know? It wasn't like we'd said two words to each other, and the silent tension grew each time we were in the same vicinity. So besides our initial 'meeting,' there wasn't likely to be any sort of verbal communication between us until I was able to leave the house, and I imagined even that would be limited to what was strictly necessary. Carter's stress-inducing presence was at least scarce around the house, as was Milo’s, who I didn’t mind not seeing a bit. While he’d kept his thoughts behind his teeth, his stares were unnerving on the occasions that our paths crossed. The house staff, the ones I’d met anyway, left a lot to be desired in terms of affability. The few maids and the cook were nice enough, but they weren’t interested in befriending me and generally retired to their quarters or went home in the evenings. I hadn’t even gotten acquainted with the rest of the security team, although I knew they were around, nor any of the groundskeepers that seemed to magically disappear whenever someone ventured near the vicinity of where they were working. It was lonely, and I was starting to hate that I couldn’t even leave to handle my own affairs or do more than use the phone to try to check up on my mother. Which was another bone of contention that I had mostly kept quiet about—I was tired of being stuck in the mausoleum of a house where it felt as if the very walls watched my every step, but complaining didn't do me a bit of good, and Sylvia hadn't seen Mama around, so she couldn't even reassure me that she was okay.
Thank goodness for Jerry, or I'd have gone insane with worry over her. She hadn't returned any of my messages, and I didn't have enough money in my bank account to cover the bills and make sure she had groceries. Jerry had stepped in and offered to handle it all after I had a bit of a row with Dirk over needing to deposit my check to at least tide her over until I could figure something else out.
My embarrassment was far outweighed by my gratitude when Dirk gave Jerry the go ahead to add whatever expenses were needed to the house account to relieve me of the responsibility and worry. He wanted me to concentrate on my lessons with Nina, which were frankly horrid, and not because of the curriculum. I knew I had to learn the proper ways to go about things, but I hadn't thought my speech was all that bad until she pointed out that my vocabulary, and habit of letting my accent thicken with strong emotions, could be considered uncouth.
Really though, who the heck cared? We lived in Georgia, for Pete's sake. Of course I was going to have an accent. But after she pointed it out, I started paying more attention to how Dirk, and even Jerry, spoke. Yes, they had the charming Southern accent, but it was a bit softer than mine. Their vocabulary didn't seem so different, but apparently there were different standards for the ladies. I was really beginning to hate that word, too. It was bandied about like the holy freaking grail. It wasn’t all bad though, like the dining stuff. I had picked up most of that without an issue, and that was where I currently sat, trying to refrain from jabbing her with my sharp little cocktail fork after she pissed me off yet again.
I didn't even like seafood, yet I was eating the rubbery shrimp with as much sauce as I could get on the nasty things to mask the taste. Thankfully, it was a small portion, and I mostly swallowed them whole. But Nina was being as irritating as ever, and for some reason she'd invited herself to dinner again under the guise of not wasting a minute of etiquette training. She somehow managed to sit between me and Dirk while observing and correcting just about every move I made while multitasking and chatting with him about my schedule and wedding plans. That was what had my panties in a wad, and I wasn’t about to let it go.
It was my damn wedding, and I didn't understand why she was acting like she was going to single handedly make it happen without my input. Her argument was that I wasn't ready to go out in public yet, which was BS, but she insisted that arrangements needed to be made for at least the engagement party. Besides being pissed off that she thought she was taking over, I'd been stuck in this house with mostly her for company, and I would be damned if I was going to let her trap me here even longer—hence me eyeing her up for the best spot to plant the tiny but sharp tines of the ridiculous fork to inflict maximum but non-lethal damage. I was sure that the wedding would be off if I killed my chaperone in a fit of cabin fever/twat-induced rage, but some sacrifices were worth it.
"Excuse me, Nina," I managed with what I hoped was a polite enough smile. "I do believe you're speaking to the wrong party about the wedding. And to be honest, I'm perfectly capable of going out in public. I promise I'm potty trained and won't piddle on the floor."
Not complaining here, but that might not have been the smartest thing you've ever said.
I'm fed up with being the third wheel! I've done everything that's been asked, and the woman is being an interloping tyrant!
Hey, I said I wasn't complaining, but you might want to pay attention. Loverboy doesn't look too pleased.
Nope, he wasn’t happy when I focused in his direction, but neither was I. "Darling, that was uncalled for, and at the dinner table, too." What would be uncalled for would be to hurl the remains of my shrimp at his head, but I managed to keep that thought firmly behind my clenched teeth. "But Shelby is correct, Nina. She'll have to go out sometime, and after we meet with the attorneys tomorrow, that'll be on the agenda." The meeting was news to me, but from Nina's lack of surprise, she'd already been informed.
"Yes, well, they're coming here, so I thought I could handle the preliminaries of setting up a coordinator, but it seems I was overzealous. It's just that it's lovely to see you settle down, sir, but I’ll try to curb my excitement." Her smile was brittle, but I didn't think Dirk noticed or cared from the dismissive flick of his fingers.
My anger wasn't sated though, and while I did my best not to snap, it came through loud and clear. "Why wasn't I informed that lawyers are coming? I haven't even had a chance to look into hiring one with all the 'lessons,' yet Nina was well aware? I've barely seen you, Dirk, other than meals. When did you have time to go over this with my chaperone but not me?"
I hadn't realized how it sounded until the accusation was out of my mouth, but really, what did he expect? He'd all but abandoned me to the witch's care, and she was still more in the loop than I was.
Dirk frowned between the two of us, obviously annoyed with the questions. "Shelby, darling, we can discuss this later." And that easily, he yet again dismissed my concerns. "I'd hoped you two would get along better than you have been, but I see that's not how it's going to work out. I should have considered that you, Nina, are quite a bit older than Shelby, old enough to be her mother, and maybe you're having trouble relating to each other." The blow landed well. Nina's lips pursed up like they did when I'd purposely used the wrong fork to mess with her, but my smug smile died a swift death before it could form. "And you, Shelby… You're still somewhat immature and quite insecure. I understand and have been lenient because of your upbringing, but you can't lash out in reaction to every little thing that doesn't agree with you or makes you feel threatened. I'm going to have to consider where you can go and if I need to find an alternate escort until you can get these tendencies under control.” At my furious glare, he added on, “Your track record isn't helping you, darling. It speaks for itself."
Tears filled my eyes at his dressing down. I did not have 'tendencies.' I bit my tongue more than any one person should have to, and now he'd taken me to task in front of her?
"I understand completely, Dirk," I choked out, miserable in my upset and knowing that I wouldn’t get anywhere by arguing. And I did understand, truly, I did... He thought I was little better than a child throwing a tantrum, and that was just about what I wanted to give him. Instead, I pushed my chair back with my fists clenched by my sides. "I'm not hungry anymore, and I'm sure you two have a lot to discuss, so I'm going to retire for the evening. Goodnight." And with that, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the ostentatious dining room. Only to nearly run into Carter who stared at me with pity as I marched by.
The lack of voices calling me back let me know that they were either shocked into silence by my outburst, or more likely, they were refusing to acknowledge the teenager having her tantrum.
You could always go back to your mama…
Even the voice didn't sound too certain about that, but regardless, it wasn't happening. I refused to tuck tail and run. I just had to figure out how to navigate all of this without being seen as little more than arm candy that only spoke when she was spoken to.
I was almost back to our suite when footsteps rapidly approached from behind, their taps muffled by the carpet runner down the center of the polished wood floor of the hallway. For the most part, all the upstairs corridors were done in wood. Apparently, marble was heavy, and it was less upkeep on the integrity of the structure if marble finishings were kept to the main floor. I didn't quite understand it, but it wasn't really my house anyway, so I didn't particularly care why they didn't continue with it upstairs.
Right as I reached the door, a hand on my shoulder brought me back from my side trip about the house, and the reflex I'd developed from Nina’s constant grabs and slaps kicked in. I hadn't even realized I still had the stupid little fork clenched in my fist until it was firmly embedded in the hand that thought it was okay to touch me without permission.
“Ow! What the fuck?” The voice came from the last person that I thought would try to grab me. I whirled to face the man from my past, finding him pulling the pointed tines from his flesh, allowing blood to well in the tiny holes they had made.
Well, now you’ve both made the other bleed, bravo!